Tissue engineering is a truly multidisciplinary field, which applies the principles of engineering, life science, and basic science to the development of viable substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve the function of human tissues. Large-scale culturing of human or animal cells (including but not limited to skin, muscle, cartilage, bone, marrow, endothelial and stem cells) may provide substitutes to replace damaged components in humans. Naturally derived or synthetic materials are fashioned into “scaffolds” that, when implanted in the body as temporary structures, provide a template that allows the body's own cells to grow and form new tissues while the scaffold is gradually absorbed. Conventional two-dimensional scaffolds are satisfactory for multiplying cells, but are less satisfactory when it comes to generating functional tissues. For that reason, a three-dimensional (3D) bioresorbable scaffold system is preferred for the generation and maintenance of highly differentiated tissues. Ideally, the scaffold should have the following characteristics: (i) be highly porous with an interconnected pore network for cell growth and flow transport of nutrients and metabolic waste; (ii) be biocompatible and bioresorbable, with controllable degradation and resorption rates so as to substantially match tissue replacement; (iii) have suitable surface chemistry for cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation; and (iv) have mechanical properties to match those of the tissues at the site of implantation. In vivo, the scaffold structure should protect the inside of the pore network proliferating cells and their extracellular matrix from being mechanically overloaded for a sufficient period of time. This is particularly important for load-bearing tissues such as bone and cartilage.